Damon Merchant became a two-time Street Outlaws No Prep Kings invitational winner Sunday at Benson, North Carolina’s GALOT Motorsports Park, as he powered past three-time series champion Ryan Martin in the final round.
After an even jump at the green, Merchant motored away from a slowing Martin, securing another win and the $40,000 top prize to go along with his Las Vegas victory in what was his impressive fourth final round appearance of the year.
Merchant opened his path to the winner’s circle with an opening round win over teammate Lizzy Musi, and followed it up with a defeat of the hottest driver in the series of late, Nate Sayler, in round two. He then pulled another top runner in the series, Giuseppe Gentile, in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Robin Roberts jumped the tree and went red, handing a free ticket into the final round to the native of the 405.
Martin, meanwhile, took down Jimmy Taylor, Jeff Lutz, and Kyle Canion on his way into the semifinals. Martin then took a car length win over Kayla Morton in the semis to continue his late-season resurgence, punching his way into his second final round in the last three races.
With the win, Merchant became the season’s winningest invitational driver, with a 30-11 main-event round record. Sayler, with a round-one win over early runaway favorite Kye Kelley, also leapfrogged Kelley atop those statistics. Sayler, for his part, became the most successful rookie in the series’ history, visiting six final rounds in all — three in the Great 8 and three in the invitational.
Sayler, on Friday, earned his first career Great 8 victory, following up a dominating few weeks of success that has led him into content for the overall and team titles. Sayler, who won a week ago in Michigan and only missed the double by a mechanical failure in the Great 8 final round, turned his fortunes around at GSLOT, defeating points leader Kelley, Shawn “Murder Nova” Ellington, and Larry Axman” Roach in the final round.
With their final round appearances in the points-and-a-half event, Sayler and Roach moved within striking distance of season-long Great 8 points leader Kye Kelley — Roach at 39.5 and Sayler 35, with two races remaining.
Kelley’s team, now loaded up with Merchant following a late-season trade a week ago, leads the standings with 1,315 points, with Martin’s team second at 1,280, and Dave Comstock’s squad third at 1,245. Six teams remain with a mathematical shot at the title, with only Mike Murillo’s and Disco Dean Karns’ groups out of the running.
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